Thoughts

What a weekend. What an incredible weekend. I had so much fun. My thanks go out to Nick, his parents, and everyone who attended for making those few days such a blast. Nick's birthday was last week and for the occasion, his parents put on a little shindig of sorts. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was not just Nick's college buddies (and me the lone high school invitee), but aunts, uncles and Big Nick's hunting buddies as well. This is the actual recipe for disaster. Especially when Big Nick paired us all up. One member of one generation with one member of the other. The goal was then, to simply drink more than he with whom you were paired come Saturday night.

I was lucky enough to be able to get out of work at 3pm on Friday which got my journey underway. I drove myself to Lansing and parked at the airport. Buddy picked me up from the airport and drove me to Nick's house in St. Joseph, MI. We arrived by 7, which was in time to grab a piece or 4 of pizza, have the first alcoholic beverage of the trip, and mingle. The party bus left at 8.

What, you ask, was the party bus? Imagine a shuttle bus that may seat nearly 40 people, gut the insides, insert limousine interior. There were maybe 20 of us occupying the all leather interior on the ride down; sharing stories, snacks and drinks.

Yolanda, the driver, managed to only get us lost a little bit. In no way does that excuse her apparent natural ability to break things in Nick's bathroom, however.

After we were settled in our rooms at the hotel, we went to Nick's parents' room. This was also party headquarters for the weekend. A little of both rubbing elbows and some hobnobbing before we headed out to the bar. We went to Hangge Uppe at Elm and Dearborn. We had a decent time there downstairs. Upstairs was more contemporary music (oh...and tiny), downstairs was significantly bigger and had music from the 50s through the 90s (from what we heard). It wasn't too long before Nick decided he would rather move on. To where? Neo. He described it to me as like the club in the beginning of Blade, but it was actually rather tame. I was more than a little disappointed, but I am sure the Goth/Industrial hotspot that it is was a bit disappointed in me as well. I did have the opportunity to see a few things I hadn't before. I saw a girl ask her boyfriend if she could kiss another girl, I saw a man in a fishnet shirt, I saw a man in a camouflage miniskirt, and I saw a more full figured woman in some corset/bustier thing with a mask on. My life seems to have more meaning now. Just the two of us had changed bars, the others stayed put. So that means it was only me that Nick tried to convince to go hop the fence at the zoo. Shame it didn't seem my idea of a good time.

We met up with all of the younger crowd in the early afternoon for lunch. We grabbed a bite at some pub on the side of the road. We weren't picky at this point, they just needed to have chicken fingers. Lunch at the Exchequer on Monroe was unremarkable.

We needed to be dressed and ready for dinner by 6:30. After lunch, some of the group headed to Michigan Avenue to do some shopping; the rest of us went back to the hotel for a short nap. Our dinner reservations were for 7pm and it was excellent. I absolutely love the food in Chicago. They are most well known for their pizza, but it really is a city full of great restaurants of all kinds.

After our meal we were shuttled to Blue Chicago for a night of live blues and enough alcohol to kill a small village. We were treated to some classic motown, hip hop and blues by Willie Kent and the Gents ft. Patricia Scott until the bar closed. We did manage to have a few cocktails as a part of whatever game Big Nick had thought up. I would like to thank the Admiral for taking it easy on me. I am well aware that I did not stand a chance, and truth be told I am not one to push the envelope. As things progressed we were able to see one member of the group sink in his attempt to out drink Nick's Uncle Tim while still maintaining his attempt to hit on a girl who was clearly at the bar...with another girl. Poor Andrew, two competitions he lost that night. When the bar closed we said goodbye and goodnight to the older generation. We strapping young lads then headed back to Hangge Uppe; the night was just beginning.

It was great because now that it was after 2am, many people were going home. It was crowded when we arrived at the bar, but it then began to thin out somewhat. The dance floor was nearly vacated, which was nice when the DJ switched formats. He had been playing dance tracks, but then moved into more ballads. Songs that everyone knows the words to played for the next few hours. We all stood in a circle and yelled out the words at the top of our lungs. It may not sound like much fun, but all good times shared between old friends and new ones should end in true sing along fashion like it did in Almost Famous and Sleepers.

The bar closed at 4:30, we were back at the hotel by 4:45. I went upstairs, packed, changed out of my been-spilled-on, smell-like-smoke, worn-all-night clothes and headed downstairs to get a cab to the airport. I had a 7:15am flight from Chicago back to Lansing (where my car was waiting for me). Remember, it was Sunday now. I had class at 1pm, otherwise I would have been on the party bus's dramatic return voyage to St. Joseph later in the day.

I was afraid to close my eyes in the airport before my flight because I knew no one would come tap me on the shoulder to wake me so I didn't miss the plane. I did manage to close my eyes for part of the 26 minutes we were in the air between cities though. I tried to sleep in my car before class, but could not get comfortable.

I am tired now, but in no way to I regret any single moment of this trip. I would much rather be tired having been a part of such a weekend instead of rested having missed out. I had a great time, not just at the bar with the boys from K but with the members of Nick's family that I had not seen in so long and even the guys from deer camp that I met for the first time.

I am working on getting some of the pictures taken on the trip. I didn't take a single one; but I am only slightly disappointed in myself. Others took enough.

Good times.